1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to image processing, and more specifically, stereo image processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional stereo matching techniques are unreliable in many cases due to occlusions (where a point may be visible in one stereo image but not the other), lack of texture (constant color, not much detail), and specular highlights (a highlighted portion that may move around in different camera views). All of these difficulties exist when applying stereo matching techniques to human faces, with lack of texture being a particular problem. The difficulties apply to other types of objects as well. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a result of a conventional stereo matching technique, as applied to a human face, and indicates problem areas caused by occlusions, lack of texture, and specular highlights.
While commercial stereo cameras are emerging, many if not most image processing applications do not provide tools to process stereo images, or, if they do, the tools have limitations.